Dominant win for Les Bleues despite slow start: Key talking points from France v Italy

François Ratier’s Les Bleues era kicked off in great fashion, as the hosts convincingly defeated Italy 40-7 at the Stade des Alpes in round one of the Women’s Six Nations.

While Anais Grando’s try was the only difference between the sides at half-time, the home side stepped up in the second half, adding five more tries to the scoreline through Carla Arbez, Yllana Brosseau, Assia Khalfaoui, Lea Murie, and Pauline Barrat, with Italy managing a consolation try in the game’s final minutes.

France’s back line was top-notch and allowed them to bag a bonus-point win, while Italy’s set-piece and attacking woes were leading causes of their underperformance.

Italy’s rustiness was compounded by lineout misery
The lineout misfiring was a problem during the last World Cup, which ultimately contributed to Italy failing to qualify for the knockout stage, and it seems it is still far from resolved.

The story of Italy’s game could have been very different had they sorted out their lineout in the opening 20 minutes. With the hosts experiencing a wobbly start, the Azzurre were regularly only 15 metres short of the opposition’s in-goal area, but their lineout was unable to secure them the ball and capitalise on promising field positions.

Ironically, Italy’s counter-maul looked in better shape, successfully dismantling France’s driving maul on a handful of occasions. Regarding the scrum, Italy held their own throughout most of the match, conceding just one scrum penalty near the end of the game.

France give a superb defensive performance
When life gives you lemons, defend like France! While the catchphrase might not work, the Les Bleues defensive performance was outstanding, completing 90% of their tackle attempts and conceding their only try with just a few minutes left.

Mathilde Lazarko completed 19 tackles, followed by Axelle Berthoumieu and Madoussou Fall Raclot with 17, and the side completing 150 successful tackles in total in what was a stunning defensive effort.

While France experienced some indiscipline, their tackling prowess and breakdown aggression were enough to stop Italy in their tracks, raising a blockade that would make the French Résistance proud.

Lazarko, Gabrielle Vernier and Pauline Bourdon Sansus provide X-factor for France
It might be a new age for Les Bleues, but that doesn’t mean there’s a change on the protagonists’ front, with Vernier and Bourdon Sansus crucial for their side’s win in the 2026 Six Nations opener.

While France had a troubling time overcoming the Italian defence in the first half, Vernier was determined to string together something special, punting more than a couple of smart kicks, including a stunning 50/22. The centre’s ability to win the gain-line was instrumental in setting up a more menacing platform for her team to strike, even if they only managed to score once before half-time.

As for Bourdon Sansus, her suave passing game and endless stamina kept France in the game, even when Italy seemed to have control of territory and ball possession. The scrum half assisted Arbez’s try with a cunning offload to unleash the fly-half, who executed some lightning foot work to dot down.

And finally, what is there to say about the French hooker? Lazarko made almost 20 tackles, several bone-shattering carries and a clean lineout bill. With Agathe Gérin absent from the team, Lazarko showed that she can and deserves to be the present and future of France’s number two shirt.

Italy completely faded after the break
It wasn’t anywhere near the 80 minute performance Italy would have wanted to put out after a disheartening World Cup campaign, with the visiting side unable to find their way to the score board, despite having controlled the ball in the opening 30 minutes.

The scrum-half and fly-half combo of Alia Bitonci and Veronica Madia never really worked, with both failing to find the right direction and unable to speed up the game when the Azzurre needed it the most.

Nonetheless, it would be unfair to place all the blame on those two, as Italy stuttered in attack, failing to execute in the key moments whilst in France’s 22.

The women in light blue did however manage to create some exciting moments and got into the right areas of the pitch, but the failure to make the correct decisions whilst in the red zone ultimately cost them.